Notre Dame Head Football Coach, Marcus Freeman, Comments On Being A WWE Fan Prior To National Championship

Marcus Freeman, the head football coach at Notre Dame, will coach the biggest game of his career when his Fighting Irish take the field to challenge the Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2025 National Championship on Monday night.

Ahead of that game, Freeman revealed he grew up as a wrestling fan and attended multiple WrestleMania events.

Freeman spoke to Angelo Di Carlo of Sports Michiana and talked openly about his wrestling fandom, relationship with James Laurinaitis, and much more.

I grew up a wrestling fan, and he came in the year after I got to Ohio State. When I found out the son of the Animal was coming in, I was a fan, I was a wrestling fan. We did go to a lot of WrestleManias together, I can’t remember how many. But now my kids are fans. If we can get to a wrestling event and I can take my kids there, we try to. We went to one in Chicago, I can’t remember when it was, a couple months ago. It might have been before the season, but we went to a Friday Night SmackDown in Chicago.
Marcus Freeman (h/t Fightful)

He added:

I grew up watching, I liked it, I don’t know, the characters. I think at different phases, you enjoy different things. When I was young, everything was real. You ended up idolizing the Hulk Hogans and Ultimate Warriors and all those guys, and then as I got to go to some WrestleManias with James, you got to know some of the people, and now it’s about seeing your kids happy, and if my kids want to go wrestling, as a father, I will try to do that."

Laurinaitis is the son of Animal -- one half of the Road Warriors tag team. He played football at Ohio State University and then had a successful career in the NFL.

Notre Dame defeated Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State to reach the championship game. On the other side of the field, Ohio State earned their spot in the title game by beating Tennessee, Oregon, and Texas.

WWE Raw announcer, Pat McAfee, will be on hand for College Gameday ahead of the game, which will go head-to-head with WWE Raw on Netflix.

The Latest On WWE, AEW & More

WWE Raw on Netflix Preview (01/20/25): Start Time, Date, How to Watch, Match Card, Live Stream & More

Exclusive: Nic Nemeth Shares Frustrating WWE Vince McMahon Story

Update On AEW Double Or Nothing Location

Logan Paul Trolls Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, John Cena And Others Backstage At WWE Raw On Netflix Premiere